


Morse Code

by thefeelsonthebus



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-18
Updated: 2014-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-19 20:40:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1483156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefeelsonthebus/pseuds/thefeelsonthebus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of a language, a reunion, and the beginning of a friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Morse Code

**Author's Note:**

> By Valdangelo, I mean friendship because it didn't have a Nico and Leo friendship tag, with some maybe more than that stuff at the end. Oneshot.

Three people on the Argo ii now know Morse Code. The first was Leo, who had been taught it from a very young age. And Annabeth researched it while she was in Cabin Seven at Camp Half Blood. Those were the only two who actually knew it when they were on the boat. 

One day, sailing back from Athens, Leo, without noticing, started tapping "I love you," on the tabletop where he was working, over and over again. He hadn't gone to Calypso yet, and he couldn't tell anyone about his promise to her. With the thought of his oath, and the thought of her, lonely on that Gods-Damned island, weighing on his shoulders, he was spiraling downwards and nothing could stop him. 

Annabeth recognised the sound from the next room over, but couldn't see anybody tapping in there. The only people in there were Reyna, Hazel and Nico, and she was pretty sure none of them loved her. Zeus, it seemed like Nico hated her. It never occurred to her that the person tapping the Morse code wasn't in the room, and wasn't talking to her.

Nico also vaguely recognised the tapping, and knew it was Morse Code, but didn't know what it meant. With curiosity eating away at him, he stole one of Annabeth's books and pored over it for six nights straight. It distracted him from the darkness descending on him after Jason sacrificed himself in the war for him, saying Nico should turn his life around.

Of course, after he learnt Morse Code, he didn't hear it used again until four days later. And even then, he couldn't see the person who was tapping "I love you," repeatedly under the table. It was only when Percy said angrily "Leo, stop with that freaking tapping!" that Nico realised that it was Leo. But who does Leo love?

Nico was too afraid to confront Leo about the messages, even when they changed from "I love you," to "I'm sorry." But even Nico would do anything if he thought one of his friends was in danger, so when Leo's taps started to say "Help me," Nico approached him. But not with voice.

When it was just the two of them in the room, Nico started tapping. His Morse Code was a lot slower than Leo's, but he still saw Leo's head rise in confusion, then his eyebrows knitted together when Nico had finished his message. "Are you okay?"

Leo began tapping, and Nico was slower at translating, but he eventually realised Leo was saying "I could ask the same to you." Nico raised his eyebrows, and Leo smiled a half smile, a ghost of his old smile. This alone made Nico reply, tapping away.

"We're alike, really, Leo. Two lonely people. No mothers. Unattainable loves. The only difference is that you can conceal it." It was at least five minutes until Nico had finished his message, messing up a few times.  
Leo replied almost instantly. "Just because I conceal it, it doesn't mean the pain goes away."

Annabeth was walking past when she heard the first message. She stopped, wondering who was having the conversation. When she heard Leo's name, she frowned. Who could he be talking to? Frank, perhaps? Or Hazel?  
Nico was seriously considering reaching out and touching Leo's shoulder, or even hugging him, but even the thought made him queasy to the stomach, so he settled with a sad smile.

Leo had never seen Nico smile, so he returned it back instantly. It was only then that he registered something. "Who's your unattainable love?" He tapped.  
Nico looked at him, another sad smile stretching across his face. "Who's yours?" Leo knew Nico wouldn't expect him to answer, so he did just that. "You know when I was blasted off into oblivion? I went to an island. And there was a goddess there." There was a long pause before he tapped her name. "Calypso. She's been trapped there for centuries. We hated each other at first, but then..." 

Annabeth never really knew Leo but she couldn't help feeling immensely sorry for him when she found out where he went while he went missing. That must be torture. Also, a little pang of jealously hits her when calypso's name is mentioned again. Percy went to her island, years ago, and now Leo had visited. She wondered whether Calypso mentioned her at all.

Leo didn't need to finish. He sniffed, then to his surprise, he felt Nico's hand on his shoulder. He looked up, and Nico smiled at him. "And she's still there. I swore I'd rescue her, and I haven't yet." He tapped on the table. There was a long silence, then Leo translated Nico's hesitant taps.  
"I've been in love since I was twelve years old."  
"She must be special." Leo tapped quietly. There was a long pause, and Nico's next taps were so slow and so quiet that Leo couldn't quite make them out. But he eventually did.

"Not she."  
"Woah. Jeez. God, that's so..." Leo spoke aloud for the first time and wanted to smack himself when Nico stood up and walked to the door. "No, stay." He said, and tapped five letters very slowly and deliberately. "Percy?"

Nico turned around. Very slowly, he nodded.

Annabeth couldn't hear the words that Leo tapped after the "twelve years old" message, or the ones the other person tapped after, but judging by Leo's reaction, they were strong words. When Leo tapped "Percy," she was almost sure the person he was talking to was Hazel. Then she heard more footsteps, and ran.

Leo immediately stood up, and hugged Nico, ignoring every other misgiving he'd had about the son of Hades. "Zeus, Nico." He said quietly. "You're so brave." He felt Nico tense, and released him. But strangely, he was smiling. A real smile. "We're going to go and release a goddess." He said. Leo's face stretched into a wild smile. "And I'm going to kick an ignorant jerk." Nico laughed uncomfortably as Leo opened the door and walked out, looking distinctly happier.

Annabeth saw Hazel on the deck, stood alone. She did take the long way round, to make sure Leo and Hazel didn't follow her, so it makes sense that Hazel was already here, and Leo had probably already gone fixing the ship. She walked up to her. "Hazel, I need to ask you something. Promise you won't freak out."  
"Why would I freak out?" Hazel smiled nervously.  
Annabeth took a deep breath, then blurted out "Do you like Percy?"  
Hazel looked shocked. "No, why would you..." Then she looked over Annabeth's shoulder, and her face broke into a smile. "Nico! What's happened to you?" 

Annabeth turned around, and saw Nico emerging from the deck, a big, slightly shy, smile on his face. Annabeth hadn't seen Nico happy since Jason's death, so it was a happy change. But then Leo emerged from behind him, and Annabeth's jaw dropped.  
Oh.

Nico smiled at Hazel. "Just Leo talking some sense into me. If he can actually talk sense." Hazel's face was beaming, and Nico had never seen her happier. "Me and Leo are just going somewhere."  
"Where, Nico?" A voice sounded from behind him, his voice, and Nico's stomach turned, and he literally had to hold Leo back from lunging at Percy.  
"Leo, we're going. Now." He looked back at Hazel, and Annabeth was staring at him, so intensely that it made him drop his gaze. "Now, Leo."  
"Sneaking off alone, are we? I see..." Percy laughed, but not for long, because just as Nico pulled Leo into darkness, Leo reached forwards and punched Percy on the nose. The last thing they heard before disappearing into darkness was a sickening crack.

Leo was screaming with terror and joy as he spiraled through a dark oblivion, clutching Nico. When they finally emerged into daylight, Nico landed upright at first, but Leo, still hanging onto him when he fell to the ground with a thump, brought him down too. Nico glared at him. "What was that for?"  
Leo wiped the blood off his knuckles and let it splatter on the floor. "He deserved it. He was awful to you, even in just a friend sense. Someone had to do it, and it wasn't gonna be you."  
Nico tried to keep a straight face, but ended up smiling anyway. "He's an idiot. A... A loveable idiot, but still an idiot."  
"Some people call me a loveable idiot." approached, then stops. "Woah. Why are we at the Empire State Building?"

"To get the gods to give you a request. Well, kind of the fulfilling of a request. You know how Percy asked for Calypso to be let free after the Titan War? Well, we're going to make that happen."  
"Oh my freaking God Nico thank you so much!" Leo, overcome with emotion, said a rushed thank you all in one breath and gave Nico a bear hug. He could see Nico panicking, but he didn't care, he was going to get Calypso back thanks to him. 

They rode up the elevators and walked through Olympus, Leo awestruck as he had never been there before. Every five seconds he whispered "This is awesome!" to Nico. He just smiled and carried on walking.

Eventually they got to the thrones. Hephaestus, or was it Vulcan, no it was Hephaestus, gave a half smile to Leo, and Zeus stood up, looking irritated. Hades was not there.  
The boys stepped back. "Woah, Zeus, we..." Leo started, but Nico held a hand out.  
"Leo, it might be best if I ask this one." He stepped forward tentatively, approaching the God. "Lord Zeus, we come here with a... A request."  
"You dare to come and ask me for a request? Son of Hades, you are..."  
"It has already been asked, but you have not fulfilled it!" Nico shouted. "Poseidon, your son, Pe...Per..." Nico's voice fell away.  
"What, boy?"  
"Percy Jackson." Leo shouted. "Percy Jackson requested at the end of the last war, all the good Titans were freed. That was never fulfilled, so we would like you to fulfill it today." 

The gods were conferring. A few, like Poseidon, Aphrodite (who no doubt knew who Leo wanted to rescue,) and Hephaestus were nodding. Ares was frowning (or was that just his permanent expression?) and Zeus was shaking his head. Just when Zeus had opened his mouth to say no, Nico shouted in a shaky voice "Your son, Jason Grace, would have wanted it. He... He wouldn't have wanted any innocents to stay trapped." 

Zeus' face contorted in a number of expressions, then he growled and said "Fine. You can go to rescue Calypso from Ogygia now. Poseidon, a boat?"  
Leo's face burst into a smile. "Thank you, Lord Zeus!" He said, kneeling. "Thank you, Lord Poseidon."  
Suddenly, a small boat appeared in the throne room. Leo wasn't sure how it got there, but this was Olympus. Anything could happen. "This is the ship Calypso." Poseidon said. Leo saw the name, painted in gold, on the side of the boat. "Get in, and it can take you to the shores of Ogygia. And you can take Calypso back to it with you. When you want to set sail again, just say where you want to go."  
Leo kneeled again, and was about to rattle off all the gods' names in prayer, when Nico dragged him into the boat. "Come on. Let's go rescue a goddess." 

The journey somehow took less than five minutes, in which time, Nico noticed Leo was tapping "I'm coming" on the side of the boat. He smiled, and Leo suddenly stood up, rocking the boat. "I can see the shoreline!" He said. Then, Nico saw a figure run onto the beach, and Leo made a strange noise in his throat. "That's her." He whispered. "Calypso."

The boat washed up on the shore, and the girl approached the boat. She had long caramel hair tied up in a ponytail, and was wearing a simple white cloth shirt and jeans. Nico got out of the boat first. Leo was still in shock.  
"Who are you?" She said, frowning a little.  
"Nico di Angelo," he said, "But it's not me you want to see."  
Leo finally got out of the boat, and walked in a daze towards her. For a moment she was too shocked to move. Then she ran towards him, and hugged him. "Oh my god you came back you came back you came back!" Nico couldn't help smiling at them. Leo was happier than he'd even seen him. 

"I promised I would. I promised I would and I did." Leo smiled. "And you can finally get away from this island now."  
"What?!"  
"Poseidon gave me and and Nico a boat that can take all three of us away. He brought it in himself."  
Calypso hugged him again. "You're amazing!" Then she pulled away, a sudden stern expression on her face. "But I still hate you, Leo Valdez."  
"Of course you do. And it was all Nico's idea, how to get you back. I was stressing about it, and I did him a favour, so he did me one." Calypso smiled at Nico, who gave a faint smile back. Then she turned back to Leo. "I turn mortal when I leave this island, so I'll be sixteen, but I don't care. I'll get to be with you."

Leo pulled her onto the boat, and Nico climbed in after her. "The Argo II." Leo said, his voice shaking, and the boat started to move. Calypso watched as the island she was trapped on for so long disappeared, and she became free. The journey only lasted five minutes again, and Nico noticed Leo didn't let go of Calypso's hand up until he saw his ship in the distance.

"Guys!" He yelled, waving frantically. Frank and Annabeth, who were stood by the edge of the boat, waved for a ladder or something. Instead of a ladder, Percy ran to the edge, still pinching his nose, and scowled when he saw Leo. Then he stumbled backwards. "Ca... Calypso?" 

Annabeth ran to the edge of the boat again when she heard Calypso mentioned. "You!" She said, as Percy reluctantly summoned a wave to bring the three of them up. "You're Calypso!"  
Calypso looked at her, surprisingly without any bitterness. "And I guess you're Annabeth. You'd better introduce me to the others." She turned to Frank. "Hi. I'm Calypso. These two idiots rescued me."  
Leo smiled, (apparently to them, idiot is a term of affection,) but Nico just scuffed his feet on the floor. Annabeth stared at him. Did he really love Percy? The poor boy's had enough to deal with in his life without this.

Percy approached Leo, still pinching his nose to staunch the blood flow. Before now, Leo would have flinched ands walked away, but now, after rescuing someone who had been let down by Percy, and becoming friends with someone who had repeatedly been let down by Percy, he wasn't scared of him anymore. He was just angry.  
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Leo?" Percy was angrier than he'd ever seen him. "What did I ever do to you to deserve a broken nose?"  
Leo stared at him calmly, putting an arm around Calypso and putting his hand on Nico's shoulder. "These two people have repeatedly been let down by you. It's not what you've done to me, but what you've done to them."  
Percy looked gobsmacked. He looked at Calypso, who gave him a cool stare, then at Nico, who Leo knew wouldn't meet his eye. But after a few seconds, Nico did. And to Leo's surprise, he spoke. "These two people have also, at one point, loved you, and you still let them down." He broke Leo's grasp and ran away.

Percy was spluttering, but Leo ignored him. Instead, he ran after Nico. 

He found Nico in the room where they had the Morse Code conversation. "Nico, what do you mean, you loved him at one point?"  
Nico looked up sadly, but with a hint of a smile on his face. "I mean, that I did love him, but now that a great person has made me see what a jerk he really is, the love is starting to go away."  
Leo's face stretched into the biggest smile it had been in all day. "You know, this could be the beginnings of a great friendship. Don't you think so?"  
In answer, Nico began to tap on the table. When he had finished, he smiled at Leo, who knew his message was "I think so too."

 

About four months later, Leo was working in Bunker Nine, with Nico watching him. He had something on his mind for the past few weeks, and he needed to get it off his chest. But he just couldn't say it. He couldn't. So he began to tap, using the first method of communication they used together. 

Leo's head rose when he heard the taps. He translated them in his mind, but he was preoccupied, so he didn't quite get them straight away. Two short taps, then a gap, then another short, then a long tap, then two more short...

After Nico finished the message, he stood up and left Bunker Nine, but Leo was still puzzling over the message. It was only after Nico had shut the door that he got it.

"I love you now."


End file.
